Enhancing Rehabilitation and Healthcare Training Using Augmented Reality: Lessons From the AREduX Prototype

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool in healthcare education and rehabilitation. The Augmented Reality Education Experience (AREduX) is a prototype designed to simulate the physical and cognitive symptoms of dementia, enhancing empathy and understanding among healthcare professionals and caregivers of people living with dementia (PLWD). Extrapolating from what we learned from focus-group interactions with study participants, AREduX usability testing, NASA Task Scale, and prototype implementation into an educational context, this paper presents possible applications of AREduX beyond the PLWD population. It describes how AREduX can be used beyond dementia care for broader applications in rehabilitation, competency-based education, and experiential training for physical and rehabilitation scenarios.